Dr. David J. Urban is Dean Emeritus and Professor of Marketing in Jennings A. Jones College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University. He served as Dean from 2013 to 2023. He previously worked for 24 years in the School of Business at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), where he held several faculty and administrative positions, including Interim Dean and Executive Associate Dean. He retains the honorary faculty title of Professor of Marketing Emeritus at VCU. Before his time at VCU, Dr. Urban was a faculty member at Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business Administration for four years.

Dr. Urban received a B.S. in Commerce from the University of Virginia. He also holds an M.A. in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Michigan--Ann Arbor.

Dr. Urban’s business and marketing background includes duty as a U.S. Navy Supply Corps officer. During most of his time in the Navy, as Supply Department Head aboard USS Newport (LST-1179), he managed the multimillion-dollar operating budget and services for a crew of 240 and a contingent of 500 U.S. Marines. He received the Navy Commendation Medal, the Navy Expeditionary Medal, and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

Dr. Urban has engaged in training or research assignments with numerous corporate, government, and nonprofit organizations. He serves as an independent board trustee for four mutual fund trusts based in Virginia, with over $8 billion in assets under management. Dr. Urban is a 2015 graduate of Leadership Middle Tennessee.

His expert comments have appeared over 400 times in electronic or print media, including CNBC, Fox Business Network, Bloomberg Business Week, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune. He has received 26 research grants from public and private organizations. He has published extensively in academic and professional journals, including European Journal of Marketing, Industrial Marketing Management, Human Resource Management, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Consumer Marketing, and Journal of Marketing Education. 

Dr. Urban has received eight national awards for teaching excellence and is a certified Dale Carnegie Senior Trainer. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) awarded him the Outstanding Faculty Award (OFA), the Commonwealth of Virginia’s highest honor for faculty at Virginia’s public and private colleges and universities. Dr. Urban is a member of the academic Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, Golden Key International Honor Society, Beta Gamma Sigma, the national business honorary society, and Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honorary society. In 2017, on behalf of Jones College, he received the Dale Carnegie Global Leadership Award, recognizing significant contributions in human relations and community development. In 2020, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee appointed Dr. Urban to the honorary position of Colonel, Aide de Camp, to acknowledge his community and professional service.

Dr. Urban currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Ascension St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital Foundation. He has chaired the Board of Directors for the United Way of South Central Tennessee. As the 2017-18 chair of the Development Committee, he was responsible for United Way’s entire $2.9 million annual campaign. He has also chaired the Board of Directors for the Rutherford County (TN) Chamber of Commerce and served as a board member for the Blue Raider Athletic Association (BRAA).

Dr. Urban lives in Murfreesboro with his wife, Gina, co-founder of a family business, Urban Expert Services. They are members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. They have two adult children: Dr. Eliza Urban, a management consultant, and Alec Urban (MTSU 2017), an IT professional.

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